For most species, aging promotes a host of degenerative pathologies that are characterized
by debilitating losses of tissue or cellular function. However, especially among vertebrates,
aging also promotes hyperplastic pathologies, the most deadly of which is cancer. In
contrast to the loss of function that characterizes degenerating cells and tissues, malignant
(cancerous) cells must acquire new (albeit aberrant) functions that allow them to develop
into a lethal tumor. This review discusses the idea that, despite seemingly opposite …